I’ve lived in Virginia all my life. In fact, I’m fairly certain I’ve never been outside of the state (JK it’s a commonwealth — just testing you) for more than two consecutive weeks. You could call me a homebody, and you’d be right, but that’s only part of the reason why I tend not to wander. I really, really like it here, and that sense of pride led me to interview Robbin Thompson and Steve Bassett about their song “Sweet Virginia Breeze,” which the General Assembly recently named the state (ahem, commonwealth) popular song. The interview just went up over at Richmond Navigator.

I thought I’d single out one Thompson quote, which helps to illustrate why I feel such a kinship with the song and its writers:

You realize that when you’re in a band and people have taken you under their wing, or people like what you’re doing, instead of moving away and going to some place that may or may not help your career, you try to make your career go around where you like to live. That’s always been my theory.

That strikes me as wildly admirable, and it was a true joy speaking with these two Richmond legends. Check out the full River City Magazine article here and listen to Virginia’s official popular song below.

The Robbin Thompson Band — “Sweet Virginia Breeze” [Spotify/iTunes]